31 COM 7B.89

Historic Areas of Istanbul (Turkey)

3. Commends the efforts, progress and commitments made by the State Party in the implementation of the corrective measures to reduce threats to the site and improve management and conservation practices and for the preparation of the World Heritage Management Plan;

4. Welcomes the appointment of a Site Manager and Steering Committee for the property as a first step, and the establishment of a "UNESCO World Heritage Coordination Unit" in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and a Focal Point for the World Heritage issues, as well as for the holding of the two international symposiums;

5. Regrets, however, that the State Party report does not provide information on impact studies for the new large-scale development projects, and information on effective measures for the safeguarding of the Ottoman-period timber structures in the core area of Zeyrek, which was one of the main concerns of the previous Committee sessions;

6. Requests the State Party:

a) to continue to implement the Decision 30 COM 7B.73 as well as the recommendations and corrective measures to achieve the desired state of conservation established by the joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS mission;

b) to finalise the integrated and comprehensive World Heritage management plan incompliance with the Operational Guidelines, including details of a new and effective management structure and buffer zone to protect the integrity of the property, by 1 February 2008 at the latest;

c) to provide the World Heritage Centre with information on impact studies, including Visual Impact Assessment, according to international standards for all new large-scale projects which may threaten the important views to and from the property and its buffer zone, including the Halic bridge across the Golden Horn, the proposed development project at Hydarpaşa, the Galataport project, the Dubai Towers, as well as the extension project for the Four Seasons Hotel over the archaeological remains of the Great Palace;

d) to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission in early 2008 to assess the state of conservation of the property and progress made in the finalisation of the World Heritage Site Management Plan and in the implementation of the corrective measures addressing the desired state of conservation, as requested by the Committee and the joint mission recommendations in 2006;

7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February2008 a progress report including all issues indicated above to enable the World Heritage Committee to consider inscription of the property on the List of World Heritagein Danger at its 32nd session in 2008.